The Mystery of the Blue Pipes
There are strange blue pipes all over Leipzig. At first I attributed their presence to some form of construction work. But then I realized that these pipes looked pretty permanent. They weren't waiting around to be buried. I started to fear the work of Christo. It was scary to think these pipes might be art, but then again exposed pipes often give lofts a certain charm. Maybe, I thought, someone decided to apply the same principle to an entire city.
I mean what better way is there to say "we are not stuck in the past," then by cluttering up views of prewar architecture with modern, functional, blue water pipes. Take that Leibniz and Bach.
I do, however, have a second, perhaps more plausible hypothesis about these blue pipes. Apparently, they are building a large tunnel under the city to ease traffic. So it seems possible that they put the pipes above ground during this time to avoid having them ruptured in the construction process.
After finding this out, I thought I had solved the mystery. Now I'm not so sure. The placement of the pipes seems too random. Also, there does not seem to be as many pipes as this hypothesis would lead one to expect. And surely these aren't sewer pipes. They are too small. But if the pipes for fresh water had to be put above ground to protect them, wouldn't the same follow for the sewer pipes. Its all very mysterious.
Any arguments and/or facts leading to the solution of this mystery are welcome.
There are strange blue pipes all over Leipzig. At first I attributed their presence to some form of construction work. But then I realized that these pipes looked pretty permanent. They weren't waiting around to be buried. I started to fear the work of Christo. It was scary to think these pipes might be art, but then again exposed pipes often give lofts a certain charm. Maybe, I thought, someone decided to apply the same principle to an entire city.
I mean what better way is there to say "we are not stuck in the past," then by cluttering up views of prewar architecture with modern, functional, blue water pipes. Take that Leibniz and Bach.
I do, however, have a second, perhaps more plausible hypothesis about these blue pipes. Apparently, they are building a large tunnel under the city to ease traffic. So it seems possible that they put the pipes above ground during this time to avoid having them ruptured in the construction process.
After finding this out, I thought I had solved the mystery. Now I'm not so sure. The placement of the pipes seems too random. Also, there does not seem to be as many pipes as this hypothesis would lead one to expect. And surely these aren't sewer pipes. They are too small. But if the pipes for fresh water had to be put above ground to protect them, wouldn't the same follow for the sewer pipes. Its all very mysterious.
Any arguments and/or facts leading to the solution of this mystery are welcome.
1 comment:
Hallo, das sieht verdächtig nach Fernwärmeleitungen aus. In Jena gibt es die auch, alledings in grün. Sogar auf dem Gemeindegrundstück sind sie verlegt. Allerdings muss ich sagen, dass diese blauen Rohre mitten in der Stadt doch sehr aufdringlich sind. Da war wohl kein Geld vorhanden, um sie besser zu verstecken.
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